And the winner is…?

Heading up to Manchester for Labour conference, I’m wondering what the result of the leadership election is going to be, and thinking about the last minute predictions from un-informed bookies and pundits.

I hope, if everything has gone correctly at the ERS, that only a few people know the actual result yet, and I suspect that votes are still being verified. So it’s a bit frustrating to see the media trying to prejudge the outcome.

When I arrive in Manchester I’ll be going straight to my hotel and then to the conference hall for the leadership announcement. The 4pm start time will no doubt slip to something more like 5pm, or later, as always seems to be the way with events at party conference. But I don’t mind waiting, the result of the leadership election will probably decide if Labour returns to power again at the next election and may well determine when that election is.

A shift to the soft-left by Labour’s new leader would please some in the Party, but I know that this would not be the right thing for Labour or the country. Over the last thirteen years in government, Labour showed that it could use its democratic socialist values to inform policies that benefitted the whole country. Yes there were certainly times when that didn’t happen and we have been reminded throughout this leadership conference of those mistakes such as Iraq, so I won’t list them all here.

But while the leadership contest has rightly been a chance for party members and supporters to share their views on the Labour Government’s record and in particular what they were unhappy with. The election of our new leadership today in Manchester is the time to stop that sustained critique of our record, and to focus attention on the positive change that Labour initiated in government. The public do not need us to rubbish our record, coalition ministers are already doing that and in particular Labour’s economic management. Our new Leader need a robust response to the charge from Nick Clegg and David Cameron that public spending caused the financial crisis and that Labour’s mismanagement of public spending led to the challenging financial decisions that everyone now recognise need to be taken in order to reduce the deficit.

This should be a matter of urgency for the new Leader as they will be facing David Cameron at the despatch box on the 20th October to challenge the coalition on its brutal and ideologically driven Spending Review. The decisions taken by coalition ministers to cut budgets across government by up to a quarter will leave many voters un-touched, but for many people the cuts will be felt instantly. For example, research by the Fawcett Society showed that the cuts will disproportionately hurt women.

I’m almost certain that many people in the Labour Party will want to continue voicing their unhappiness with Labour’s record in Government. They will not want to stop attacking ‘new Labour’ or the people who led Labour in Government. They will want to attack their colleague’s in the Party for moving to the centre-ground in British politics, and they’ll want our new Leader to ditch the new Labour brand.

But I hope that our new leader recognises that Labour didn’t secure a majority in 1997, 2001, and 2005 by simply appealing to a small group of voters who are the true core of Labour. And that to win back power from this centre-right coalition Labour needs to stay firmly in the centre ground.

Some Labour shadow ministers have tussled this week over the need to reconsider our position on reducing the deficit. It’s also important that the new Leader has as sensible and well thought out position on this, that offers voters a real sense of what Labour would do if elected to restore people’s trust in our economic management.

I’ll be sitting in the hall with everyone else hoping that the right candidate is elected, one who will defend Labour’s legacy and lead us back to power.

David Chaplin
Chair, Young Fabians

It’s Eve of Poll in Sweden and it’s all to Play For

Brian Duggan posts this blog from the Young Fabians campaign trip to Sweden.

Tomorrow voters in Sweden go to the polls. They will be testing a one term Conservative-Liberal coalition and the opposition Social Democrats will be hoping to bounce back to power after one term out of office. There is certainly a lot Labour can and should learn from Sweden.

The Young Fabians and Young Labour have sent 15 campaigners here to help Mona Salin’s Social Democrats win back office and to work with and learn from our colleagues in the SSU, the youth organisation of the Social Democratic Party.

We’ve been campaigning by day and night in Stockholm Central for the local, regional and national elections which take place on Sunday.

Late Sunday night, we’re all hoping for a win for the Red Green coalition, with Mona Salin elected as Sweden’s first ever woman Prime Minister.

Sweden’s multi party system means coalitions of government and opposition are the norm and a stable policy and campaigning pact between the major blocks is framing this election. When voters go to the polls, they will vote for their proffered party and know their likely coalition partners. It certainly seems miles away from the Cabinet Office discussions in the aftermath of May 6th.

For the Social Democrats the campaign has been about driving a relationship of personal contact with voters, keen to reconnect after their loss of power in 2006 and move on. They are focussing hard on framing the debate on policies they know will work in their favour, unemployment levels, welfare cuts, economic inequality and of course their opponents plans for tax cuts for the wealthy few.

The mood and momentum around the Social Democrats is extremely positive. Recent polling shows them taking back ground and the narrative is fresh, positive, forward looking and most crucially of all focused.

It’s been a real learning experience for all the Young Fabians and Young Labour members. There’s a lot we will take back but in the meantime, there are leaflets to deliver and doors to knock on, it’s all to play for.

Brian Duggan
International Officer, Young Fabians
(Posted from our campaign trip to Sweden)

#kenwasthen … Labour or London?

It’s interesting that the contest between Oona King and Ken Livingstone has failed to attract significant national media attention, or a huge amount of engagement from Labour Party members. Labour is often accused of being too London-centric, and some of the leadership candidates have certainly gone out of their way to promote their regional roots and focus.

But while we have surely all made up our minds by now about who we are going to vote for as our new leader?! I don’t witness the same level of debate about which Labour candidate we want to challenge Boris Johnson to be the most powerful directly elected politician in the country.

Perhaps this is because Labour supporters don’t think we can beat Boris? Or perhaps its because we are a bit tired of these nomination processes now and if we are going to go to the effort to go to a hustings, its going to be for the Party Leadership and that’s about it?

But while the Leadership contest is about the future of Labour and how we will challenge and hold the new coalition Government to account, the Mayoral nomination race is surely about the future of London, and nothing is more exciting to me at this time than that.

I’ve lived in London all my life, and I think Labour in London has always been weaker than it should be. We have had and still do have, a huge wealth of hard-working London Labour MPs, activists with huge amounts of experience and knowledge, and a structure of local and devolved government which allows for our councils, and our Mayor to have a real impact on the lives of Londoners and make our city a better place to live.

For me, its a shame that Ken has thrown himself back into the race this time. I think if he had said that he wasn’t standing then we would have seen some of his supporters throwing themselves forward, such as David Lammy.

Ken should have recognised that it was time for the next generation to take on the challenge on re-engaging with Londoners, and what a great nomination race it would have been if Lammy and Oona has both been vying for our votes. Labour could have showcased its diversity and talent in London at a time when the Party is desperately looking for experienced and engaging personalities to re-connect with voters.

As we get closer to the nomination of our candidate for Mayor (it will be announced in London on the day before Party Conference) I hope that London members will get more engaged in the debate, and will see that Labour has to re-energise itself in London with a new and vibrant candidate before we have any chance of taking on Boris Johnson in 2012. In my opinion, there is only one candidate who can do that.

What are your views? Email me.

David.

David Chaplin
Chair, Young Fabians
dchaplin@youngfabians.org.uk

Can we stop fighting the Tory Party of the 1980’s?

Every time I hear that clip of John McDonnell saying he would go back in time and assassinate Margaret Thatcher I shudder.

I know many people will say that I’m too young to remember Thatcher and so I wouldn’t understand the way some people in the Labour Party like the ill-judged McDonnell or other long-standing Thatcher opponents such as Ken Livingstone still feel about her and the politics she represented. Perhaps it’s ok if they are allowed to continue to hate her, fight her, and moan about her. Its conversely similar to the way some web-savvy Tories still talk about her.

But the rest of the Party – those who actually want to return to government and win the confidence of voters again – must now stop fighting the Tory party of the 1980’s.

It’s not just the mobile phones which have changed since 1980’s, it’s the politics and also our society which has moved on, and so Labour should too. We’ve got to accept that this new coalition has shaken up our politics and it’s made people think that there is a new centre-ground in British politics which is a natural space for the Conservative Party and their Liberal Democrat colleagues.

But to show where this coalition is failing – and it already is – we need to do more than simply point out the mad right-wingers who still dominate the Tory backbenches. We need to stop arguing that Tories are all toffs with baronets who want to destroy the state and privatise everything in sight. Otherwise people won’t want to listen, we know that because we’ve tried it before and it doesn’t work.

Crewe and Nantwich showed us that, remember the Labour activist dressed-up in a DJ and top-hat? I think that’s a campaign to forget.

What I’d like to see now from all the Leadership candidates is a new and confident message about the modern conservative party under David Cameron which shows how their ideology is driving the desire to cut spending. The contest to be the next Leader of the Labour Party should help us reframe our view of the conservative party and find a way to really hold them to account and challenge them, not fall back to our old arguments about class and Thatcher.

David Chaplin
Chair, Young Fabians

A vision for our future: Why I’m Backing David Miliband

Unlike most of MPs who nominated David Miliband for the leadership of the Labour Party this week, I haven’t worked with him, I haven’t chatted with him in the division lobby, or on the benches in House.

Unlike the journalists who try to un-pick the Labour leadership contest, I’m not looking for a juicy story, I’m not interested in his choice of tie colour, or how he’s getting on with his brother.

I’ve been watching this leadership race develop like every other Party member. I’ve met some of the candidates on the campaign trail in London during the election; I’ve seen them on TV and I’ve read their articles in the press.

Now that the final list of candidates is clear, I’m also clear on who I want to support, who I want to win and why.

I’m a life-long Labour Party member and I want our new leader to be the next Prime Minister.

I want to support a candidate who has demonstrated their credentials for that job and who is up for the challenge of taking on David Cameron and Nick Clegg from the day he or she is elected.

As a normal party activist I want a new leader who will be proud of the record that our party has in government, particularly the advances made under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown since 1997.

I don’t want a leader who is going to trash that record. I don’t want a leader who is going to exploit disagreements within our movement. And I don’t want a leader who wants to step back from the difficult decisions we need to take.

I want a leader who can talk openly about our disagreements and who can confidently acknowledge our mistakes, but who will also move our Party forward together and learn from where we went wrong.

Our Party needs reforming, from top to bottom. We need to re-think the way we recruit members and how we organise ourselves in our local communities. We need a new and more open approach to discussing policy that is inclusive and transparent. We should be cutting-edge and dynamic in our local and national campaigns. We need a leader who wants the Labour Party to change and is willing and able to drive that.

I want a Labour Prime Minister who understands the aspirations of everyone in my community, including those who struggle to get by, and wants to help them get the best for them and their family. Someone who will recognise the needs of everyone in society, not just people who are members of the Labour Party.

I believe David Miliband is that leader, and that’s why I’m endorsing him today as my candidate to be Labour’s next Prime Minister.

What London Needs, What Labour Needs

You cant be Mayor and say you only care about a certain few in our city like Boris does. You cant be Mayor and ignore the difficulties that young people face in our city. You cant be Mayor unless you are willing to be an ambassador for London. And you cant be Mayor if London doesn’t believe in you.

Young Fabian Campaign Day with Mark Rusling and Stella Creasy in Walthamstow

A hardy group of Young Fabian campaigners headed up to Walthamstow this weekend to canvass for Labour local government candidate Mark Rusling and Parliamentary candidate Stella Creasy in Walthamstow and Hoe Street ward.

Mark is a former Young Fabian chair and wrote a great pamphlet on beating the BNP which still acts as a useful campaigning guide for activists today. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any BNP activity in Walthamstow, but we did see reams and reams of glossy colour-filled Lib Dem campaign literature.

The local Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Farid Ahemd has clearly spent thousands of pounds on printing this literature. But we didn’t see a single Lib Dem canvasser, poster, or supporter.

Speaking to people about their concerns and aspirations for their community is Labour’s way of engaging our supporters, from a day in Walthamstow it seems like the Lib Dem tactic is to bombard voters without really understanding them. One undecided voter I spoke to was so pleased that Labour activists had come round to her house to speak with her that she asked for a membership form on the spot.

The great thing about the day was that all the Young Fabian members who came along had never taken part in canvassing before. So we are brining some new activists into the Labour Party family. Which is a great feeling.

More details about the next Young Fabian campaign day are here: http://www.youngfabians.org.uk/content/blogcategory/21/46/

Pledge Card Launches #labpledge

Equalities – trouble at the top?

Today’s press has been bad for Trevor Phillips.

He’s had a select committee calling him names in the playground and now the school bullies have been quick to run over and have a go too.

But the problems Mr Phillips is accused of causing at the Equality and Human Rights Commission are not helpful for a Labour Government which is placing equality at the top of the political agenda.

Harriet Harman is the first ever Secretary of State for Equality and her little empire of Government Equalities Office is pushing forward new thinking across Government on issues such as rape, LGBT rights, women in the labour market, and the Government’ flagship legislation – the Equalities Bill.

Is Trevor Phillips negative press now damaging the profile of equality as an important political issue, and is the debate around equality really helped by the constant focus on one man?

As part of our Equalities Month events, the Young Fabians are meeting tonight to discuss – What next for equalities?

We’ll be joined by Harriet Harman’s PPS Nia Griffith MP, and Tulip Siddiq from Young Labour.

Click here for more event details.

It’s the Manifesto Stupid!

According to the press it’s a tough week for Ed Miliband as Labour’s manifesto coordinator. Yesterday’s Times said that Alistair Darling’s tight purse strings are hampering Ed’s efforts to write a bold manifesto, and other papers have been less kind to Ed suggesting he has been asked to work magic on the Party’s fortunes.

So we’ve decided to cheer Ed up a bit and send him the best Young Fabian ideas for the manifesto.

The Young Fabians are offering all our members the chance to send their manifesto ideas to Ed this week through our blog. If you have a bold policy suggestion which you think deserves to make it into Labour’s 2010 election manifesto then email your 100 word idea to me, David Chaplin, on dchaplin@youngfabians.org.uk or register as a YF Blogger on this page and post it yourself.

All your manifesto ideas will be posted onto our Blog, and at the end of the week a panel of judges including Jess Asato from Progress, and Sunder Katwala from the Fabian Society will choose the best manifesto idea to be sent onto Ed Miliband.

Get thinking and get blogging!